Craig Lowndes to retire from full-time driving

Three-time Supercars champion Craig Lowndes has announced he will retire from full-time driving at the end of the 2018 season.

Lowndes, 44, one of the highest profile drivers in Australia, will continue as co-driver for endurance races in future.

He has amassed 652 Supercars starts, with 106 victories, six Bathurst crowns, three championships and five Sandown 500 wins to his name.

“I’ve always said there are two key factors keeping me racing and those are my motivation to keep getting up and doing what I love and my competitiveness, and for me, nothing has changed,” Lowndes said.

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“But at the same time I want to make sure I finish my last full-time season with some strong results in the bag and after this year’s results so far Roland [Dane] and I came to the decision between us that this will be my last full season behind the wheel.

“I feel extremely lucky to have been able to keep doing what I love at a competitive level for such a long time.

“Ultimately, the fans are the backbone of our great sport and the reason I’ve pulled my helmet on every race weekend, so to them, thank you.

“I'm also pleased to announce that I'll be joining the broadcast team, which is something I'm really looking forward to. It's not the last time you'll see this grin in pit lane.

“I've also always said I'd love to go and do more racing overseas and in different categories.

“Le Mans is definitely on the bucket list and hopefully this will enable me to go and do that, which Roland and the team will be supportive of.”

Lowndes became the first driver in Supercars history to record 100 victories, reaching the mark in Darwin in 2015.

He burst onto the scene at the 1994 Bathurst 1000 at the age of just 20, passing Ford star John Bowe for the lead late in the race, before ultimately finishing second.

A long-time favourite with the fans, Lowndes credited his mentor, the late Peter Brock, for taking him under his wing when the pair were team-mates at Holden Racing Team. Just a month after Brock's sudden death in 2006, Lowndes and Jamie Whincup claimed an emotional Bathurst 1000 victory, which Lowndes later described as “one of my proudest achievments.”

Supercars boss Sean Seamer has described Lowndes as one of the greats.

“Craig Lowndes is not only the most recognisable face within Supercars, but he’s a role model and hero of the sport,” Seamer said.

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“In the relatively short time that I’ve known him, Craig has proved himself to be the same genuine, friendly bloke in person that you see on camera, as well as one of the most tenacious drivers in the series.

“He’s a true legend of Australian sport. As an enduro driver, I have no doubt Craig will continue to be a regular visitor to the podium.

“As an ambassador to the sport, in whatever capacity he chooses, Craig will be a fundamental part of the Supercars family for many years to come and the entire Australian sporting landscape will be saddened to see him hang his helmet up after the last race of the year, but we won’t be allowing him to disappear from the paddock.”